Paving paradise and putting up a parking lot - Al Jazeera America
Downtown Newark’s focus on accommodating cars, not people, skewers chance at revitalizing the struggling city
NEWARK, New Jersey — During the day, parking lots in downtown Newark are jammed with cars belonging to government and corporate office workers. To some observers, the full lots might seem a useful facet of urban life and a sign of a healthy city economy.
But not to everyone. At night and during the weekends, the surface lots are desolate, quiet stretches of black and cracked asphalt. Repeat this scene in other parts of this city’s downtown and you end up with many residents and urban planners complaining they are a form of urban blight. They sap the vitality of an area on the cusp of major gentrification, critics say.